The present invention relates generally to articles and in particular to articles made of links.
Articles made of beads have been previously proposed. Oliver, (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0134229) teaches interconnected strings of beads. Oliver teaches prefabricated strings of beads that can be joined, or “snapped” together, perpendicularly, to form a fabric. Oliver further teaches that a double thickness fabric can be formed by joining together two layers of pre-fabricated strings. Oliver also lists several uses for the beaded fabric. In particular, Oliver lists bags, purses, fanny packs, cans and bottle holders, decorative packaging, Christmas stockings and other ornaments, wall hangings, banners, vests, skirts, tops, dancewear, headbands and hats, garter belts and other lingerie, bracelets, anklets, necklaces, collars and other jewelry, and fancy dress wear.
Oliver also teaches the use of multi-colored beads for making various designs using the beaded fabrics. In one embodiment, Oliver teaches the use of a double thickness fabric to form a flag, making use of existing multi-colored strings of beads to form stripes, and ornamented with pairs of beads to give the impression of stars.
Blatz (U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,856) teaches a woven fabric with beads. Blatz teaches woven bodies or fabrics used in ladies' belts, ladies' handbags and other uses, which is formed, for the greater part, of metallically connected beads or balls. Blatz teaches using parallel strands consisting of metallic beads that are connected by metallic links to form warps of the fabric. Between adjacent strands are placed other warp strands of fibrous material so that the beads do not tend to fit in the spaces between the beads of the adjacent chains.
Tsai (U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,749) teaches an article of footwear having a single-layer ventilating and massaging insole. Tsai teaches an insole including a plurality of upper beads crossingly linked with a plurality of lower beads by a plurality of strut members. Tsai teaches that as a foot depresses the upper beads downwardly against the supporting lower beads, air is pumped upwards to ventilate a wearer's foot and also message the wearer's foot.
Rast (U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,891) teaches an abrasion resistant conformal beaded-matrix for use in safety garments. Rast teaches an article that is highly ventilated while providing abrasion protection for a wearer during a slide, for instance, that may occur during a fall from a motorcycle. Rast teaches a material including abrasion resistant, low sliding friction beads that are held within a matrix of high-tensile strength, abrasion-resistant cords. Rast teaches a rider's arm within a beaded matrix in sliding contact with a pavement surface. Rast teaches that a row of beads can be seen in contact with the pavement surface. As the rider slides the beads are retained above this platform of abrasive resistant, but low friction beads. Rast further teaches a trouser garment which incorporates an embodiment of the beaded matrix according to the invention.